The Lincoln Project Project - SOME MORE NEWS

I'm sorry, I don't trust the Lincoln Project. They want to help get rid of Trump? Awesome, but don't let them put a single finger on Democratic policy, don't let them achieve their goal of drawing the Democratic party further to the right. Do not give Republican operatives undue focus or attention from the Democrats.

Ladyfingers or Savoiardi Biscuits Recipe

So, we're doing something a little sweet again this week! We're making ladyfinger biscuits. Now, we are not bakers, and hubby's a trained chef, but not a pastry chef, so they came out a little ugly (not very much practice piping), but the final resting place for these extremely light and crispy biscuits is deep within next week's tiramisu, so we didn't worry too much with how they looked!

We cut down the sugar a bunch for this recipe, and they still came out extremely sweet. They're also a little boring on their own, so if you're making these to just eat (and not part of a larger recipe like tiramisu or trifle), then we would recommend adding some lemon zest into the batter for a little extra flavour and aroma. For dipping in tea or coffee, they are extremely absorbent and sponge-like, so just give a very quick dunk so they don't turn to mush in your hot drink!

Cold Brew Coffee and Sun Tea Iced Tea Recipe

Bit of a basic one this week. We made cold brew coffee and sun tea to make iced tea with! It's been deliriously hot here, so we wanted some nice cool drinks. Also, we've got a video on tiramisu coming up, and we used the cold brew instead of espresso to flavour the ladyfingers.

The nice thing about both of these methods is that the slower extraction with the lower temperatures means your end result will be smoother and you will avoid any of the strong bitter and acidic off flavours from oversteeping. We tend to make both of these pretty strong, because we like to pour them over a bunch of ice, and as the ice melts, it will dilute your drink a bit. You can also make coffee or iced tea tea bags.

You can sweeten these with a little bit of simple syrup or maple syrup if you like. The cold brew coffee can also take a bit of milk of cream if that's how you prefer it. You can also add some fancier teas to the sun tea, and you can buy those do-it-yourself teabags and loose tea.

DHS Under Boss: We're Taking This National

Source: Talking Points Memo

When asked about calls for an investigation into DHS police tactics in Portland, Oregon, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli tells NPR not only are they not going to stop but they want to take the tactics nationwide.

Well, we are – we welcome – the more investigations, the better. With as much lawbreaking is going on, we’re seeking to prosecute as many people as are breaking the law as it relates to federal jurisdiction. That’s not always happening with respect to local jurisdiction and local offenses. But, you know, this is a posture we intend to continue not just in Portland but in any of the facilities that we’re responsible for around the country.

A simple and succinct message:

Warning from 2 years ago: Trump isn't Hitler, but he is a Fascist (Some More News)

Vegan and Gluten Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

This is a new recipe that my hubby adapted from some that he had seen online. It makes for sort of a granola cookie, but it's tasty and moist, and not too sweet (which is a plus for us, neither of us have a particularly sweet tooth). If you want this to be sweeter, you can add a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup without changing the texture at all. Of course you can replace the dried cherries with anything you like: dried cranberries, raisins, dark chocolate chips, nuts or seeds, a combination of any or all of the above, or whatever you prefer.

Also: I recently got a new audio recording setup for my voice-overs, and I'd appreciate it if anyone could met me know if the voiceover still comes through okay? It might take me a little time to learn all of the new levels and everything. This is my first time recording with a real mic (instead of into an old smartphone, which is what I had been doing until now), and I'm sort of learning as I go.

Sous-vide Pork Belly "Char Siu" Recipe.

We recently got a new toy! We picked up an immersion circulator so we could play around with some sous-vide cooking, and we've found a few things that work extremely well with it! This is one of our first experiments with the thing, and we took some lovely pork belly and gave it a Chinese char siu BBQ flavour profile. We cooked it at 135F for 48 hours, and the result was amazing. Also, we used a cooler for our sous vide vessel, because it's more efficient. It holds the temperature much more consistently if it's in a well insulated container. The "lid" was just a piece of styrofoam from something we had shipped at some point.

We learned a couple of very interesting things doing this recipe. When the pork came out of the sous vide bath, it was cooked all the way through, and it was edible right away. It was tasty, but it didn't taste quite right until we got a little bit of sear on it in the pan. Of course with such a low temperature cook and such an indirect method of heat, you're not going to get any browning or anything, so that last sear in the pan is really important. The flavour penetration was excellent, and the pork that came out was melt-in-your-mouth tender.

How To Pretend Systemic Racism Doesn't Exist - SOME MORE NEWS

Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake Assembly and Decoration

Not really a recipe, this time! We did a video on how we assembled the layer cake (that was my birthday cake) that we have been building up to. Certainly, this is not as fancy as Claire Saffitz's baking academy on the Bon Appetit channel, but hopefully it makes things a little accessible to people. Hubby is a trained chef, but he's not a pastry chef, and we rarely do much baking because he tries to avoid carbs as much as possible, so we don't have a lot of the equipment, like a cake stand, or even an off-set spatula. You can get past all of that with stuff you probably have in your home! Also, just because it's not fancy-store-high-end-bakery-perfect-looking doesn't mean it's not delicious, which is the far more important part of baking, and trust me, this was delicious.

This flavour combination was aimed directly at me, but you can do all sorts of different flavours for both the cake and the fillings. If you don't drink, or don't like booze, you can use lots of other things as a soak. There are so many possibilities with cake, and we hope you'll try some fun things!